What Is Not Going To Change In The Next 10 Years
Why I Am Not Worried About A Bad Year. And The Cheapest Therapy I Know
How to live a rich life? The internet is flooded with noise and negativity. I focus on stories that make me a better human being, entrepreneur and friend. Each story has three lessons at the end.
Here are this weeks three short stories:
What Is Not Going To Change In The Next 10 Years?
Why I Am Not Worried About A Bad Year
The Cheapest Therapy I Know
You can find all past editions here. Let’s dive in 👇
(1) What Is Not Going To Change In The Next 10 Years?
Jeff Bezos once said:
“I frequently get asked: ‘What will change in the next 10 years?’ But I rarely get asked: ‘What won’t change?’ And I submit to you, that second question is more important.”
He went on to list Amazon’s constants:
Low prices
Fast delivery
Vast selection
It’s impossible to imagine a future 10 years from now where a customer comes up and says, ‘Jeff, I love Amazon, but I wish the prices were a little higher,’ or ‘I love Amazon, but I wish you’d deliver more slowly.’”
At Happy Ratio, we have taken this question to heart.
People will always eat.
People will always drink.
And they’ll always crave food that’s tasty, healthy, convenient, and affordable.
As a business, the only question is: Can we build a fan following around what we serve?
Last week, we opened up only 100 spots in our effort to find our 1000 true fans. Here is a letter I wrote to customers “Why We Are Chasing 1000 True Fans”,
The responses coming in are encouraging.
We’ve also been iterating fast.
Here’s a short video showing just how much has changed at Happy Ratio lately.
One lesson we learnt going offline?
📍 Location. Matters.
Blue Tokai was doing similar numbers to us—until they moved up the street.
Same team. Same product. Same pricing.
Their footfall 5x’d overnight. ₹1 lakh per day. Just because of location.
We’re still fighting for attention.
But we’re not giving up.
We’ve launched a new campaign focused on Cyberhub office-goers.
If you’re in Cyberhub, drop in. Try it.
Then tell me what you think — I read every email.
Some things won’t change in 10 years. But we will — until we get them right.
3 Takeaways:
Build for what won’t change.
Focus on timeless customer needs, not trends.Distribution beats product — if no one sees you, no one buys you.
Location isn’t just real estate. It’s attention.Iterate fast, but stay true to the core.
If the fundamentals are right, feedback is fuel, not failure.
(2) Why I Am Not Worried About A Bad Year
I may not have made a lot of money from my investments in the last few years.
In fact, I don’t know if I’ll make much this year — or even in the next five.
But when I zoom out and think in decades, I know the odds are in my favour.
I’ll be just fine.
Warren Buffett once explained this mindset using See’s Candies:
“See’s loses money roughly eight months of the year.But we know the seasonal pattern — so we don’t worry in July that somehow Christmas won’t come.”
If you only looked at one quarter, you’d think it was a terrible business.
But zoom out, and it’s a compounding machine.
He applied the same thinking to housing:
“Over the next 20 years, some years will be terrible, some will be good, and some terrific. I don’t know the order — but I know that if I buy cheap enough, and stay in, we’ll do OK.”
I don’t know if my “OK” means $1 million, $10 million, or $100 million.
But I do know this: My job is to control what I can.
So I wake up and do the things that compound:
Do what I love so it doesn’t feel like work.
Build with people I like and admire.
Treat others the way I want to be treated.
Do the hard thinking up front, trust the system to deliver.
Get mentally sharper: read daily, write daily, reflect daily, reset daily.
Get physically stronger: walk 10K, run 5K, or hit the gym. Movement doubles thinking power.
One day — maybe in 2075 — the clock will stop ticking.
Until then, I choose to 🙂 instead of 😟 as I walk up the mountain.
It is a choice. Every day.
3 Takeaways:
Zoom out. Great years and terrible years will both pass. But decades? They compound.
Focus on controllables. Inputs > outcomes. Routine > prediction.
Choose the smile. Your mindset is a strategic asset. Protect it.
(3) The Cheapest Therapy I Know
I woke up earlier this week with my head playing ping pong with me.
Thoughts bouncing around.
Nothing dangerous. But enough to throw off the day.
So I stopped mid-walk, opened my phone, and just started typing.
Journaling is the cheapest therapy I know.
It helps me figure out what’s actually bothering me.
Half the time, I don’t even know what the real issue is till I start writing.
It’s like sifting sand through a mesh. The noise filters out. The real stuff settles.
Once it’s out of my head, I get clarity.
Why do I feel this way?
What’s really going on?
What are the arguments for and against?
What can I do about it?
By the time I finished typing, I had three clear insights.
The anxiety disappeared. I could breathe again.
I forgot to save the note. But it did its job.
I don’t journal every day. But when I do, it always helps.
Same with my weekend workouts.
Two hours. Same reps. Same sets. Music on.
I go into a zone. The body moves. The mind wanders.
I think about business. Life.
It’s become a kind of moving meditation.
I walk out feeling reset.
If your head’s been noisy lately, try this:
Put your phone on airplane mode.
Open your notes.
And type until you feel better.
You probably won’t read it again.
You probably won’t need to.
3 Takeaways:
Writing clears the mind. You don’t need a ritual. Just start.
You don’t need a journal. The notes app is enough.
Repetition is healing. Whether it’s workouts or writing, the routine is the reward.
👋 I’m Harsh. 7000+ founders and CXOs read these three short stories from me every Sunday. I also run a podcast called Master of the Deal where I uncover the personal stories and strategies of M&A, private equity, and investment banking leaders.
If you’re curious about what I’m building, here’s where I spend most of my time:
Ideals VDR - We are the world’s most secure and highest rated Virtual Data Room provider. Companies share confidential information using our technology. Here is a short demo.
Happy Ratio - Food and drinks that make you happy, inside and out. Check out our subscription plans.
Marcellus Investment Managers - Where my personal investments grow. Their philosophy of investing in clean, honest, cash flow-positive businesses makes me sleep peacefully at night.
Harsh Batra
Loved today's edition dada. A number of good takeaways. But, a genuine advise - If you did not make money from investments in the last few years, you genuinely need a analysis and introspection and some questions, than just being faithful. That's a friendly opinion, and nothing else :)